


Just a Thing About Growing Up

by CaptainWayTooInvested



Series: Just a Thing About Growing Up [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Needles, and he is their biological kid somehow, peter is like 12 in this, super family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-04-20 12:11:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14260701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainWayTooInvested/pseuds/CaptainWayTooInvested
Summary: “Tony, what are the rest of those papers?” Steve asked.“Um, let me see- well this one is a summer reading list…” Tony paused as he read the red sheet, “I guess he needs boosters to go to the 6th grade, who knew?” Peter’s stomach dropped and he could feel a cold shiver going down his spine. He thought he was done with the vaccinations. 'Those are just for little kids' Peter thought frantically to himself, 'boosters could mean anything right?'Or in which Peter comes home from his last day of fifth grade to find he has more reasons than one to be afraid to start middle school.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I haven't written a fan fiction in literally over 2 years so it has been a while. I have never written super family so I am sorry if they seem out of character. This struck me out of nowhere and I already regret it. This was meant to be a short one shot about preteen Peter being nervous about his middle school boosters and his dads comforting him, but I got carried away and went too in depth and actually gave it a plot?? So yeah, this is the first chapter building up to his appointment and the second will be the appointment itself. Thanks for reading!

     It was Peter’s last day of the fifth grade. While he was happy to finally be able to be seen as the eleven and one-half year old he had grown to be, he was scared of being thrown into middle school with the older kids. Well that and he had heard some rumors about what it takes to go to middle school…

     “How was your last day kiddo?” Tony asked as Happy brought him up to their penthouse apartment.

     “It was pretty fun! Ms. Jones had us clean the desks with shaving cream!! And after we all gave each other shaving cream beards!” The boy was practically bouncing as he relayed his eventful last day of elementary school.  
     “Sounds like a good way to end the year, Peter.” Steve chuckled from where he was in the kitchen.  
     “Did you guys get your report cards today?” Tony asked as Peter pushed past him to grab a snack from Steve.  
     “Yeah, here!” Peter thrusted his backpack at his father, preoccupied by the rice crispy treat Steve had given him. Tony grumbled something under his breath as he rummaged through his son’s monstrosity of a backpack in search of the tiny folder containing his son’s grades. While he knew his son was a smart kid and had no doubt he received straight A’s (like he had his whole school career), it still filled him with pride to see the perfect marks on each card they were given. After a few fruitless minutes of searching, he resorted to just dumping the contents onto the counter.  
     “Peter, you are cleaning that up later.” He said pointedly, still in pursuit of the envelope. “Ah, got it!” Tony held up the little manila folder up triumphantly. Peter, confident in his grades took no mind as he took up a seat next to Steve at their breakfast bar. He has no idea what it contained.  
     Opening the little clasps and slipping out more papers than he thought could fit in such a small packet, Tony set up trying to organize all of the information. “Summer camp pamphlets, school supplies list for his classes next year, sports physical sheet…” he read as he thumbed through the stack, “bus slips… ah! Here it is!” he celebrated as he picked up a plain white sheet from the pile, “Straight A’s, that’s my boy!” Peter just rolled his eyes like he always did when his dad saw his report card, watching as Tony replaced the last quarter’s report on the fridge.  
     “Tony, what are the rest of those papers?” Steve asked, eyeing the urgent looking red sheet in the back of the stack.  
     “Um, let me see- well this one is a summer reading list…” Tony paused as he read the red sheet, “I guess he needs boosters to go to the 6th grade, who knew?” Peter’s stomach dropped and he could feel a cold shiver going down his spine. He thought he was done with the vaccinations. 'Those are just for little kids' Peter thought frantically to himself, 'boosters could mean anything right?'  
     Seemingly oblivious to their son’s silent crisis, Steve supplied, “Like vaccines? I thought he got all his before we put him in kindergarten? How many are there these days?”  
     “I guess he needs another set now that he is older, they won’t let him into school without them.” Now Peter started to really panic, “I mean we have the whole summer to worry about these, not like last time where we had to scramble to get him to a doctor a week before school,” a small blessing Peter supposed. He watched in horror as the disturbing red flyer was stuck to the fridge next to his report card.  
____

     Peter didn’t want to tell his dads he was scared of needles. That was such a childish fear, and Peter did not want his dads to see him as a baby. So he just stayed quiet whenever the cursed appointment was brought up. Luckily for him, his dads had a bad memory when it came to those kinds of things. All he had to do was get the flyer down without suspicion and his dads would forget all about it. They would forget to make the appointment and he would claim he forgot about it all together. He made his plan, he would wait until his dads were out of the apartment and he was left with Happy to do it so they wouldn’t see. Unfortunately, that was taking forever!  
     Peter sat one week into his summer vacation eating cereal at his favorite spot overlooking the kitchen. He almost lost his appetite for his Lucky Charms looking at the stupid piece of paper. Peter read for the millionth time the big bold font “MIDDLE SCHOOL BOOSTERS,” then reading the name of the series of shots, (' _shots as in more than one!'_ ) He looked into the eyes of the little clip art boy getting his shots and he could feel his stomach rolling. He knew it couldn’t be good if even the cartoon boy on his fridge scrunched his eye closed in pain. The animated needle in the fat cartoon doctor’s hand looked so big. Little Peter could not help but imagine the real needle being that big, right next to him in the gloved hand of a sinister looking doctor. He dropped his spoon into his bowl, the resulting clank enough to pull him from his day dream.  
     “Hey, Pete, you ok there buddy?” Steve asked, concerned as he laid his hand on his son’s shoulder.  
     “Um, yeah. I’m good, Dad.” Peter rushed out, swallowing hard as he looked at the milk splashed on the counter. Steve looked skeptical but kept his thoughts to himself. He took a seat next to his son, reading a paper Peter didn’t know where came from.  
     “Will you be alright if your Dad and I go to a meeting in a bit? It won’t last long, and Happy will come to hang out with you while we are gone.”  
     “I will be fine, Dad! I’m eleven and a half, I do not need Happy to babysit me anymore.” Peter grumbled.  
     “Uh, yeah you do kid, now stop giving you Dad a hard time.” Tony said as he rumpled Peter’s messy hair.  
     

     Less than two hours later found Peter saying bye to his dads and hello to Happy. Finally Peter rejoiced as he let Happy put on a movie for them to watch in the living room. Now was his time. “I’ll get us some snacks!” Peter announced as he sprung off the couch, bound for the kitchen. He poured two glassed of juice as he contemplated how to get rid of the evidence. Being as overzealous as his father, Peter thought it had to be believable. ' _Go big or go home I guess'_. Instead of just ripping the flyer from the fridge like he should have, Peter decided to pretend to slip on melted ice cube, therefore spilling juice everywhere, including on the flyer and his report card. The sound of the glass shattering on the ground had Happy clamoring to take in the scene. Peter looked up sheepishly at the man, “Sorry? I slipped on an ice cube.” He said very matter-of-factly.

     “Uh, ok.” Happy just sighed, commenting about his pay grade, “Just, uh, stay there I will go get something to clean this up.” When he returned, Peter asked innocently to protect his cover, “Can I help?”

     “I guess, just don’t step on any broken glass or your dads will fire me.” Happy handed him a rag from the sink and said, “Wipe the counters and get the papers off the fridge that are ruined, while I take care of the glass.” Just according to plan, Peter snatched the papers off the of fridge and tossed them half-hazardly into the trash, not thinking about their obvious placement.  
___  
   

     It was after dinner when his dads noticed something was amiss. As Tony went to scrape the remainder of his plate into the trash, he noticed his beloved report card, next to the flyer. “Peter, why are these in the trash?”  
    “Uh, I spilled juice on them!”  
    “Ok, I guess. Hey Steve, can you call the doctor and make his appointment for tomorrow? I know without that flyer up we are not going to remember to take him. The sooner the better, we don’t know when the world is gonna be ending!” Tony yelled from the kitchen. Peter went pale, and fought the urge to puke at the thought. His plan totally backfired! He just prayed the doctor was booked and he would not have to go tomorrow. It was too soon. He wasn’t ready!  
     As Tony and Peter settled into the couch, Steve walked in on the tail end of a conversation, “-That sounds great. 9 am tomorrow morning? We can make that work. Alright thank you, goodnight.” He hung up the phone, setting down between his husband and his son. “The doctor has an opening at 9 am tomorrow so you will need to get up early in the morning buddy, don’t stay up too late.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished it. I have had this chapter written since a week after I posted the first, but my first draft was a bit darker than I had intended and I did not feel good about posting it. It took me a while, but I found a way to rework it in a way I was comfortable with. Its still quite a bit antsier than I had originally intended, but I added some emotional resolution and stuff at the end to balance it out. Thank you for all of you who supported the first chapter. I hope you enjoy.

                In the evening, after Peter had gone to sleep, Tony and Steve finally made it to their own bed for the night. As Steve adjusts himself on the mattress, he worries his cheek between his teeth. “Hey, babe, what’s gotten into you tonight?” Tony asks as he looks over at his husband.

                “I’m not sure, but Peter has been acting really weird lately. He seems… I don’t know, concerned maybe? Worried about something?”

                “Like what? Our jobs or something? We haven’t seen any action for a few months now.”

                “Do you think he’s nervous? About tomorrow? Whenever we bring it up he goes quiet.” Tony seems to contemplate this point for a minute before replying, “I don’t know. I mean he is eleven, most kids grow out of that by now, don’t they? Plus the kid hasn’t had one in years since they came out with those nasal spray flu shot things. He probably doesn’t even remember what they feel like, probably long forgot about any pain they caused him when he was little.”

                “I didn’t. Hell, I still haven’t in a lot of ways. Maybe him not remembering is making it worse? He has a very overly active imagination _like someone we know_. For all we know he has totally blown this whole thing out of proportion and is freaking himself out right now.”

                “Well for starters, Cap, back in your day the needle was the size of a pen and you had no meat to protect yourself. Of course they freak you out. Plus, the whole serum thing? Yeah no one blames you for being skeptical.  But I think you might be projecting a bit here. I think he will be fine, and we are the ones making a mountain, not him.”

                “Should we talk to him about it?” Steve felt helpless at the idea of his son sharing his fears, wanting to comfort him, but also wanting to believe his husband that it was all ok.

                “Not a great plan. If he isn’t nervous, then asking him about it will make him nervous, and if he is drawing attention to it will make him feel bad about himself. Trust me, if Peter needs us, he will tell us. Until then, let’s try to get some sleep.” Tony kissed Steve’s forehead before switched off the lights and settling in for the night. Truth be told, he had no idea how his son was feeling about what he thought was a pretty routine thing, but the last thing Tony needed right now was a spouse freaking out in addition to his son. He had always been averse to the idea of those nasal sprays, but Steve would get so worked up and protective over their son that he agreed every year to save his husband the stress of watching Peter in pain. Tony of course never wanted to see his son upset either, but he knew his little boy would get over the events quickly, while Steve would add them to his list of traumatic experiences involving the little devices. Before he finally drifted off, he prayed his son was getting a restful night sleep and not up worrying like his father.

__________

                On the car ride to the doctor’s office, both Steve and Peter fought their urge to hold the other’s hand. The trip was long thanks to New York traffic and it was working at everyone’s nerves by the time they pulled into the parking lot of the medical building. The men escorted their son into the colorfully decorated waiting room of his pediatrician’s office. As Tony set himself up with Peter’s paperwork, Steve tried to remain calm for his son, making small talk to mask his own insecurity.

                Once Tony had returned he noticed how jumpy his son looked. His legs were bouncing relentlessly up and down making the shiny plastic cushion on his chair squeak. Next to his husband and in such a big chair, he realized how small Peter seemed, like he was shrinking in on himself in a need to escape. He felt pity for his boy, but he knew from experience that bringing it up would only make things worse.

_____

                Peter looked over at his dads. They both were acting like nothing was out of the ordinary, like this was normal, that a doctor was not about to STAB him, MULTIPLE TIMES! But that’s okay. That’s what he wanted after all. He wanted his dads to think he was brave, and not scared of a stupid needle like a baby. He heard the middle-aged nurse in cat scrubs call the name of the girl who walked in before him and he could feel his heart race. It started in his chest but moving everywhere, from his throat to his head to his hands. Before he knew what was happening, he was hyperventilating.

                “Peter! Baby, breath, it’s ok honey, you need to breath.” Peter jumped when Steve’s hands went to rub his chest and back. He looked up to see Tony kneeling in front of him one hand on his knee, grounding him. “What’s wrong buddy?” Tony’s eyes were swimming with concern and Peter felt like he wanted to puke. He was trying to pull himself together but he could not manage to calm down, especially now that his cover was blown.

                In a sad little voice, Peter whispered, “I’m-m-m sc-scared.” He tried to avoid looking at his dads now as his eyes welled with tears, but it was so hard with how much they cared.

                “Oh, baby boy,” Steve soothed, “Its ok, it will be over soon I promise. It won’t be that bad, honey. Just a pinch and it’s over.” But Peter knew it was a lie. It was a stab and it was not just A PINCH it was MULTIPLE pinches and it was going to hurt. He was spiraling thinking of the burning, poking pain of the metal piecing his skin forcefully, then being pulled out and repeated. Steve looked at Tony with pitiful helplessness for their son. Eyes shifting between his family, it took all of the man’s self-control not to just say “Fuck it” and take his boys out of there and never come back. But this was for Peter’s health. He couldn’t jeopardize that just because he couldn’t take care of them.

                “I know, buddy, I know. But listen, you need this, okay? I don’t want you here, your dad definitely does not want you here, but you need it, alright buddy? We will be here the whole time. Not going anywhere, got it? Whatever you need to make it easier we will do, hold your hand, sit with you, whatever you need, but you have to get it done.” Tony’s pep talk was cut short by the nurse calling “Peter!” from the window. At first, Steve and Tony didn’t know if their son would get up, if they would need to drag him by force, but to their relief he stood on shaking legs and made his way to the door.

______

                The nurse began with getting his height, weight, and vitals, making disapproving noises at how high his blood pressure was. Tony had to physically restrain his husband to keep him from giving the woman a piece of his mind. When the doctor came in, he made quick work of his exam, giving Peter a clean bill of health. As he left, Peter felt himself calm a bit, the sterile smell of antiseptic finally becoming bearable. His dads each took one of his hands to keep him from spiraling again as they waited. 

                “How you holding up, buddy?”

                “Um um um” Peter wanted to articulate his feeling of being in the eye of a hurricane just before the eye wall hits like he read about in school, but he couldn’t get his mouth to work. He closed his eye and felt Steve pull his head to rest on his chest, using his free hand to rub circles on his upper back.

                “It’s alright, honey.” Steve says mere second before a new, younger looking male nurse opens the door gently. Peter tensed visibly, but refuses to look up or acknowledge the new body in any capacity. Tony winces as he looks at the tray the nurse set down on the exam table. Five full syringes of various sizes and shapes loomed dangerously close to his son. When Steve followed his husband’s eyes to the tray, he paled slightly.

                “Peter, right?” the man’s voice is more level, softer than the original woman. Peter flinched at hearing his name but minutely nodded in response. “Hello, Peter! I’m Nurse Pickett. I’ve got some things I need to give you, but we can go slow and I will be extra careful, alright?” the men appreciated the attempt to calm their son but both knew it was futile. Intuitively, Nurse Pickett moved the tray out of the boy’s line of sight before proceeding. “How would you like to get this done? I need both of your arms, but not at the same time. Do you think you can sit still up there or would you like to sit in the chair maybe?” Peter shrugged his shoulders but tried to move from Steve’s embrace to cooperate. He didn’t think his legs would let him get off the exam bed so he remained seated where he was. “Good choice” the nurse praised gently. He put on a new pair of gloves and turn to pick up a sterile pad and one of the vaccines.

                The sight made Peter go ridged. “No, no no no no no no” was the boy’s not to silent mantra as the nurse approached. While he squirmed it was obvious he was too in his head and too mobile to not hurt himself. The nurse, patient as ever gave a pitying look at Tony and Steve before suggesting, “I know this sounds horrible, but some people have a real hard time with stuff like this, and they never really grow out of it. I have had to restrain full grown men before for simple blood draws. The longer we put it off, the worse he will get in my experience. It sounds bad, I know, but you might have to hold him down. I’ve had parents hold their kids in their laps to keep them still, or help them lay down on the bed and keep them still that way.”

                “Peter, what do you want to do?” to which they received no reply. The men looked at each other, both uncomfortable with the suggestions, but settling for gently maneuvering their boy between them, Steve holding his left side still and Tony supporting him from the back so he couldn’t squirm away, being sure to give the nurse enough room to reach his right arm. “Hey buddy, its ok, just breath. Close your eyes, focus on my voice and keep breathing” Steve took his left hand in both of his and held on tight as a reassurance. Peter did as he was told but still felt overwhelmed and so scared. He watched the shiny point of the stupid evil pain syringe came closer to him, and he didn’t have it in him to stop his right arm from shaking away. Tony, seeing his son’s struggle, gingerly grabbed around his chest to hold his shoulder in place, and rubbing soothing circles at Peter’s elbow with his other hand.

                “I am just going to start by cleaning the area, alright, bud? This cotton ball’s just got some rubbing alcohol on it to get rid of the germs. Cold, but it won’t hurt, I promise.”  Peter half hissed, half whimpered as it made contact with his flesh. Steve moved Peter’s head so that he was facing him, resting safely against Tony behind him. It hurt to look into his boy’s eyes as when he looked like that, but he had to be strong for his son. He just hoped this could end soon, and his poor baby could go home.

               Peter felt a latex gloved hand shake between his body, getting a good grip on his arm currently pinned to his side. Before he could jerk away, there was a sharp pinch that had his arms and face heating up. He let out a pitiful noise as the medicine was delivered and felt tears stream down his face. It didn’t hurt as bad as he expected but he was so built up with emotion and fear that he couldn’t help it. He didn’t fight through the next two shots, but protested when his dad went to move his hands away from his arm.

                “I am going to switch arms so he isn’t so sore tomorrow.” The nurse informed them, “These next two are a bit bigger though, and they will burn a little as the medicine goes in. Are you OK to continue, Peter, or would you like a minute to rest?” Peter gives his dad a look that said, ‘please let this be over’ and Tony tells the nurse to proceed. The men hopped down from their place on the exam table, careful to not break contact with their son to prevent him from spiraling again, settling in a formation which mirrored the one from before.

                Peter didn’t react as his left side was cleaned, likely due to the emotional exhaustion he was already experiencing. He didn’t flinch as the nurse grabbed his arm, being sure to keep his eyes closed, but when the larger needle pierced his skin, he let out a surprised shriek, looking at his father for help, holding on tightly. “It’s alright, baby, you’re alright, it’s ok.” Came Steve’s litany of verbal comfort as Tony held him closer to his chest.

                “You are almost done, bud. Just one more, I promise. I know that one hurt, honey, but just one more to go, and you can go home, alright? Just hold on a little longer.” Tony whispered to distract his son from the approaching fifth needle. His reaction was no better the second time, and neither was the pain, but Peter was relieved to have finished the stupid visit. He wanted to go home and not leave his bed for the rest of the day. He refused to look at the nurse as he placed Iron Man Band-Aids over his wounds, and politely excused himself.

                “I’m proud of you, baby. I know you were scared, but you let the nurse do his job and you didn’t fight him. You did so good, honey.” Steve scooted off the bed to give his son a proper hug. Peter just looked at his dangling feet, a sad look on his face.

                “How can you be proud when I acted like a baby? I’m almost in middle school, Dad, and I am still scared of shots. And I acted like a big ol’ baby.” That stung Tony’s heart but he knew his husband was better equipped to handling this one, opting to be a comforting presence from the sidelines.

                “Peter, honey, you are not a baby. Everyone is afraid of something, and there is no shame in that. Heck, you wanna know something? I am really scared of them too. Ask your dad, he has to hold my hand at all my doctor’s appointments. And besides, you sat there and you did it, even though you were scared. That makes you brave, Peter, alright? Bravery isn’t about not being scared, it’s about doing things that you have to, even when you are scared. I am really proud of you.” Peter blushed at his father’s praise, joining him on the ground.

                “Now let’s get the hell out of here, shall we?” Tony quipped, taking his boys in each arm and escorting them out of the office.


End file.
